Taobh amuigh, gaelic for outsider. One of the first words I learned from my maternal grandfather, Robert Allan. He was descended from the MacDonald clan of Glencoe. He arrived in America, or the colonies as he always called it, as a Scottish immigrant in 1919. I must admit I felt like taobh amuigh many times in my life. I grew up in a military family. My father was an officer in the US Air Force. We moved many times during my childhood.
From K-12, I attended 3 elementary schools, 2 middle schools and 2 high schools, all in 6 US states, and 4 countries. In my formative years we were living at Mildenhall Air Base in Suffolk (meaning southern folk), East Anglia England. Admittedly, I loved this experience the best.
I have known of the SCA for years, but didn’t know anyone involved. A lover of the Dark & Middle Ages and the Renaissance (mainly womens fashions and historic sites) I took the plunge. I looked on facebook, found Caer Gwyn and thought they look like an interesting bunch. I’ll give them a chance. Unlike many other times in my life, I immediately did not feel like a taobh amuigh, but a cara (gaelic for friend). I was welcomed with the gift of friendship, knowledge, and a sense of belonging. The point I’m trying to make is that I found a group of people that accepted me as I was…a big boy in a dress. No-one batted an eyelash. No-one questioned it. You are treated not like taobh amuigh, but a cara.
I attended the last moot, and jumped at the opportunity to take over the roll of the Caer Gwyn Blogger. Never having written a blog before, there will be a learning curve. But I am up for the challenge. Each week I hope to provide my readers interesting short articles and pictures about such topics as herbalism, floriography, healers and witches, dance, middle ages travel, and a host of other topics that I hope you will enjoy reading.
Let us all strive in our daily lives to make those that feel like a taobh amuigh a cara
Thank you very much for taking the time to read the first blog.
Yours in continued service,
Margery Draper